Bok Tuklo County was a political subdivision of the

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding t ...

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation’s

Apukshunnubbee District Apukshunnubbee District was one of three provinces, or districts, comprising the former Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. Also called the Second District, it encompassed the southeastern one-third of the nation. The Apukshunnubbee District was ...

, or Second District, one of three administrative super-regions. The subdivision was located within the current

McCurtain County McCurtain County is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,814. Its county seat is Idabel. It was formed at statehood from part of the earlier Choctaw Nation in Indian ...

History

Bok Tuklo County, Choctaw Nation was named from the Choctaw words ''bok'', or “creek,” and ''tuklo'', or “two.” The two creeks commemorated by the name were Lukfata Creek and Yasho Bok (now called Yasho Creek), which ran parallel to one another north to south, across much of the county. Bok Tuklo County’s boundaries were established and designated according to easily recognizable natural landmarks, as were the boundaries of all Choctaw Nation counties.

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

formed its southern and eastern boundaries. The county’s eastern boundary was formed by a line drawn from a north-south stretch of Little River to an east-west section. Four counties bordered Bok Tuklo County: Eagle County on the east, Red River county on the south, and Towson County on the west. Its county seat was Oak Hill, a meeting ground which is no longer extant. The county served as an election district for members of the National Council, and as a unit of local administration. Constitutional officers, all of whom served for two-year terms and were elected by the voters, included the county judge, sheriff, and a ranger. The judge’s duties included oversight of overall county administration. The sheriff collected taxes, monitored unlawful intrusion by intruders (usually white Americans from the United States), and conducted the census. The county ranger advertised and sold strayed livestock.

Statehood

As Oklahoma’s statehood approached, its leading citizens, who were gathered for the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, realized in laying out the future state’s counties that, while logically designed, the Choctaw Nation’s counties could not exist as economically viable political subdivisions. In most, the county seat existed generally for holding county court and not as a population center. This conundrum was also recognized by the framers of the proposed

State of Sequoyah The State of Sequoyah was a proposed U.S. state, state to be established from the Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma, eastern present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal governments looming, Five Civilized Tribes, Native Americans (th ...

, who met in 1905 to propose statehood for the Indian Territory. The

Sequoyah Constitutional Convention The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention was an American Indian-led attempt to secure statehood for Indian Territory as an Indian-controlled jurisdiction, separate from the Oklahoma Territory. The proposed state was to be called the State of Sequo ...

also proposed a county structure that abolished the Choctaw counties. Bok Tuklo County was included within the territory of the proposed McCurtain County. Much of this proposition was borrowed two years later by Oklahoma’s framers, who adopted certain of these concepts for the future McCurtain County in Oklahoma. The territory formerly comprising Bok Tuklo County, Choctaw Nation was wholly incorporated into

. Bok Tuklo County ceased to exist upon

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

’s statehood on November 16, 1907.

References

{{Reflist Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma